Machines for shaping toe portions of stitchdown shoes



R. F. LANE 2,756,445

MACHINES FOR SHAPING TOE PORTIONS OF STITCHDOWN SHOES July 31, 1956 I5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 26, 1952 R van far Robert F [0/26 1/ M R. F. LANE July 31, 1956 MACHINES FOR SHAPING TOE PORTIONS OF STITCHDOWN SHOES Filed Feb. 26, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 In uenfor Pobam H (2126 July 31, 1956 R. F. LANE 2,

MACHINES FOR SHAPING TOE PORTIONS OF STITCHDOWN SHOES Filed Feb. 26, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I n ven tor Robert H Zane United States Patent MACHINES FOR SHAPING TOE PORTIONS OF S'I'ITCHDOWN SHOES Robert F. Lane, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. .l., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 26, 1952, Serial No. 273,467

3. Claims. (Cl. 12-7.8)

This invention relates to machines for shaping shoe uppers. andis herein illustrated as embodied in a machine for shaping the toe portions of the uppers of stitchdown shoes. Machines. of this type are illustrated, for example, in United States Letters Patent No. 1,861,832, granted lune. 7, 1932, and No. 1,955,730, granted April 24, 1934,, each on an application filed in the name of William C. Baxter. While the invention is herein illustrated in its application to machines for operating upon stitchdown shoes it is to be understood that. the invention is not limited in its scope to machines of this; type but in certain aspects thereof is applicable to upper shaping machines generally.

It is. an object of the present invention to provide in machines for shaping shoe uppers means for accelerating the dissipation of heat from shoe upper materials so that a stifiening means incorporated in a shoe upper and rendcred flaccid by the application of heat thereto will set while the shape imparted to the upper materials is. maintained by the operating instrumentalities of the machine, and will become sufliciently rigid to maintain the shape of that portion of the upper in which the stiffener is incorporated after the shoe isremoved from the machine. It is a further object of the invention to provide in a twostationmachine for, shaping shoe upper means for dissipating heat. froma shoe upper stiffener of the type above described: so that the stiffener will set during the normal dwell. period of either station of the machine sufiicientl'y to maintain the shape imparted to the: upper by the machine after. the shoe is removed therefrom.

With the above objects in View the. present invention in one aspect. thereof consists in the provision ina machine having grippers and wipers for shaping shoe uppers over lasts of a suitable means for circulating a cooling fluid: in contiguous relation to the wipers to dissipate heat from the upper materials engaged by the wipers. A suitable refrigerating means is provided for maintaining the. cooling fluid at a suitable temperature, preferably below 50 F.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention the illustrated machine is provided with a novel upper tensioning means comprising a gripper constructed and arranged to engage the bottom margin of a shoe upper, a skeletom'zed abutment member cooperating with the griper' and constructed and arranged to engage a last on which the upper is mounted, and means for relatively positioning the gripper and the. abutment member in order to make the gripper effective to tension the upper over the last. For closingthe gripper jaws a manually operated actuator is provided, said actuator serving. also to move the gripper relatively to the abutment. member thereby to tension the upper over the last. Suitable automatic means is provided. for opening the. gripper jaws to permit. the release of the upper therefrom.

These and other features of the invention will. nowbe described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

2,756,445 Patented July 3 1, 1956 ICC shoes, 21 section being broken away to illustrate underlying mechanisms;

Fig. 2 is a left side elevation illustrating the head and parts of the operating mechanism of the machine illustrated in Fig. l, the work and certain parts of the mechanism being shownin section;

Fig. 3 is a detail View illustrating a toe gripper and parts of its operating mechanism;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view illustrating parts of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2 with the machine at a stage inits operating cycle difierent from that shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a; plan view illustrating, the machine head, the refrigerating unit, the pump, and the fluid conductingmeans.

In. the drawings, the invention is illustrated as em-' bodied ina machine of the type illustrated in the Baxter patents above referred to. Machines of this type. operate upon the toe portion. of a. stitchdownv shoe to shape it overa last and to cause the outturned margin at the toe portion of! the shoe to be attached to the outwardly extending margin of. an extension. sole. Heretofore it has been the usual practice to. prepare stitchdown shoes for the operation of. machines of this type by wiping the lining; inwardly over an insole and cement attaching it thereto, leaving; only the margin of the outer portion ofithe. upper it) be handled by the operating instrumental-ities. of the machine. If the upper had a stifiener or toe box between the lining and the outer portion of the upper it. was cut so that its bottom margin did not extend into the marginal portion of the upper. It is now proposed. tohave the margin of the lining as well as the margin of the upper turned outwardly and to provide the toe: portion of the shoewith a box the bottom margin of which extends to the bottom edge of the upper. Preferably, the box is rendered flaccid by the application of heat thereto after it is inserted into the upper and iscaused to stiffen by the dissipation of heat therefrom while the shoe is in the machine. Referring to Fig. 2, a shoe upper comprising an outer portion 10, a lining 12:, and a stiffener or box- 14 are shown assembled on; alast 16'- having. attached to its bottom face an insole 1'8 and amidsole 20,. the midsole having its margin ex.- tending beyond the edge of the insole.

The shoe is arranged in a generally upright. position, as usual in. machines of this type, and is supported on a heel. rest'. 2-2 and a toe-support 24 which are the same in their: construction and operation as the work supporting means disclosed in the Baxterpatents. The. toe support is moved upwardly by the operation of. a slide 26 to cause a pair ofi toe wipers: 28 to wipe the upper material heightwise ofi the last: about its toe portion and to cause the out.- wardly turnedmargins of the uppermaterials to be pressed and gripped between the bottom face of. the wipers and the marginof the m-idsole 2.01 During the upward movement of. the toe support the toe wipers; 20 are closed upon the. upper and advanced. heelwardly by the operation of al'ever'30 to cause the wipers to be brought into intimate contact with the toe portion of the last and to form a well defined. angle between the body portion of the upper and its outtumed margin. Upon. completion of the wiping operation the machine comes to rest. with the work under the pressure of the toe wipers-28,. and the wiper pressure. is maintained while another shoe is operated upon in the second. station ofi the machine: (not shown).

While the: outturned margins; of the upper materials are under the pressure: of the toe wipers 28: the dissipationof heattrorn'the toe stifiener 14. causes the stifiener toset to the shape of the toe portion of the last and to become parted to the upper materials by the'operating instrumentalities after the shoe is removed from the machine. The stifiening material is adhesive in character and causes the outer portion of the upper and the lining to become adhesively attached to the stiffener in the toe shaping operation. In order to cause the outwardly extending margin of the lining to be attached to the margin'of the'midsole 20 during the toe shaping operation their mutually contacting surfaces are coated with a suitable adhesive such, for example, as pressure-sensitive cement.

In order to accelerate the dissipation of heat from the toe stiffener so that it will set sufiiciently while the shoe parts are under the pressure of the toe wipers 28 to permit the removal of the shoe from the machine without danger of any spring-back of the upper materials from the position into which they are brought by the wipers, heat is conducted from the wipers by a cooling medium. As herein illustrated, the cooling medium is water maintained at a temperature below 50 F. and circulated through a chamber or channel 32 formed in a top plate 34 fixed to the toe head and arranged with its bottom surface in contiguous relation to the top surfaces of a pair of carrier plates 36 to which the toe wipers 28 are secured. The water is cooled by a refrigerating unit 37 (Fig.5) and is circulated by a continuously operating gear pump 39. As indicated in broken lines in Fig. l, the top plate 34 is generally U-shaped and is so positioned on the toe head that its end portions are substantially adjacent to the extremities of the wiper carriers 36. The top plate 34 comprises a base portion, a continuous peripheral wall 38 (Fig. 4) and a cover plate 40. The top plate 34 is supported on a plate a portion of which is illustrated in Fig. 4 and identified by the numeral 42. The plate 42 together with the wiper carriers 36 are supported on a base plate 43. The assembly comprising the top plate 34, the plate 42 and the base plate 43 are mounted on four posts 45 having reduced upper end portions 47 illustrated in Fig. 1. Referring to Fig. 2 the post 45 illustrated in said figure is fixed in a boss 49 projecting upwardly from the top portion 62 of the machine frame. Similar bosses (not shown) are provided for mounting the three posts not illustrated in Fig. 2. The base plate 43 rests on four washers mounted at the upper extremities of the larger portions of the posts 45, oneof'said washers being illustrated in Fig. 4 and identified by the numeral 51. Preferably the washers are made of an insulating material in order to prevent the dissipation of heat from the post to the base plate 43. The reduced upper portions 47 of the posts extend through suitable bores in solid portions of the top plate 34 and are insulated from the top plate by leeves 53 surrounding said upper portions and constructed of the same material as the washers 51. Four clamping nuts, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 4 and identified by the numeral 46, are threaded on the upper portions 47 of the posts and bear against insulating washers 48 mounted on the cover plate 40 and serving to insulate the clamping nuts from the cover plate. It will be understood that the clamping nuts secure thecover plate, the top plate 34, the plate 42 and the base plate 43 in assembled relation to each other as shown in Fig. 4 and clamp them securely to the washers 51 mounted on the lower portions of the posts 45. Thus the top plate 34 is fully insulated from the machine frame and no considerable amount of heat is dissipated from the frame to the water circulating through the chamber 32 in the top plate.

For cooperating with the toe wipers 28 to shape the toe portions of the upper materials over the last 16 the illustrated machine is provided with two pairs of side grippers of known construction (not shown) constructed and arranged to engage the bottom margins of the shoe upper materials at opposite sides of the toe portion of the shoe and a toe gripper illustrated in Fig. 3 and constructed and arranged to engage the bottom margins of the upper materials at the end of the toe portion-of the shoe as shown in Fig. 2. The toe gripper members are operated manually to grip the upper materials and to tension them lengthwise of the shoe before the power cycle of the ma chine is initiated to actuate the toe wipers 28. In the course of the power cycle the toe wipers operate during the upward movement of the toe support 24 to close on the upper material with sufficient pressure to maintain the tension imparted to the upper materials by the toe gripper; After the toe wipers have so closed upon the upper materials the toe gripper jaws are automatically opened by mechanism hereinafter described and are moved away from the shoe into their position shown in Fig. 4 in order to provide clearance for the continued upward movement of the toe support 24. Referring to Fig. 3, the illustrated toe gripper comprises an upper jaw formed in the upwardly ofiset end portion of an arm 52 and a lower jaw 54 formed in a generally triangular member pivotally mounted on a fulcrum element or pin 56 carried by the arm 52. The arm 52 ismounted on a parallel motion mechanism comprising two parallel arms 58 pivotally mounted at their lower ends on an ear 60 projecting upwardly from a horizontal portion 62 of the machine frame and at their upper ends on a pin 64 carr'ied by the arm 52. The upper portion of a cam lever 66 I serves as the other element of the parallel motion mechanism. Said cam lever is fulcrumed on a fixed cross shaft 68 and carries at the extremity of its forwardly offsetlower end portion a cam roll 70 which is actuated by a cam172 fixed to a shaft 74 to move the gripper assembly away from the shoe from its position illustrated in Fig. 2 to its position in Fig. 4.

For closing the toe grippers on the upper materials a hand lever 76 is fulcrumed at its lower end on a cross pin 78 mounted in an ear 80 projecting upwardly from the horizontal portion 62 of the frame. Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the hand lever 76 has an arm 82 extending rearwardly from its lower portion and positioned beneath a crossbar 84 the left end portion of which is secured by two screws 86 to the forward portion of an arm '88 mounted on and extending forwardly from a horizontal shaft 90. The right end portion of the crossbar 84 is secured to an arm (not shown) similar to the arm 88 and mounted on that portion of the shaft 90 extending into the right-hand station of the machine. The shaft 90 is journaled at its left end in a bearing in a bracket 92 (Fig. 2) fixed to the horizontal portion 62 of the machine frame, and at its right end in a bearing in a similar bracket (not shown) in the right-hand station of the machine. Mounted in and projecting to the left as seen in Fig. 1 from the arm 88 is a rod 94 which has formed integrally therewith two parallel arms 96 which extend upwardly fromthe rod and have their upper end portions arranged at opposite sides of the arm 52. The arms 96 are arcuate in shape, as seen in side elevation in Fig. 3, and have their concave surfaces arranged to engage a cross pin 98. The cross pin is diametrically bored through its central portion to receive a cylindrical link 100 and is secured thereto by two set screws 102 mounted in the threaded end portions of the cross pin. Referring to Fig. 3, the link 100 extends forwardly from the cross pin 98 and is pivotally connected to the rear end portion of a short lever 104 mounted on the arm 52 and connected by a short link 106 to the lower end portion of the triangular plate in which is formedthe lower gripper jaw 54. It will be seen that movement of the hand lever 76 in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 3, causes the arms 96 to move the cross pin 98 rearwardly thereby closing the gripper jaws 5t) and 54 on the upper materials. Continued movement of the hand lever after the gripper jaws have closed imparts a rearward movement of translation to the gripperassembly to tension the upper materials lengthwise of the last 16. To provide for such rearward movement of the arm 52 which mounts the gripper assembly provision is made for relative movement of the arm and the upper end portion of the cam lever 66 by forming in the rear portion of the arm "a "longitudinal .slot 108 through which extends a bolt 11G carried by the upper end portion of the cam lever '66. T he gripper jaws 50 and '54 are normally held in their open position shown in Fig. 3 by a spring 112 mounted on the link 1'00'and confined betwe'en'the cross pin 98 and the forward wall of the upwardly extending rear end portion 114 of the arm 52. As shown in Fig, l, the link 100 is positioned between parallel vertical flanges extending'upwardly from the arm 52, and the rear portion of the link and the spring 112 mounted thereon are held against upward displacement by a retainer member or plate 116 which is bridged over the spring and secured to opposite side portions of the arm 52. In order to provide for a longitudinal adjustment of the gripper assembly to determine the space between the gripper jaws and the last when the jaws are in their rest position shown in Fig. 3, an adjustable abutment screw 118 is mounted in the rear end portion of the arm 52 and extends through a tapped hole in the arm into the slot 108 formed therein for engagement with the bolt 110.

The last 16 is held against toeward movement during the operation of the toe grippers by an abutment member 120 pivotally mounted at its rear end on the bolt 110 and provided at its forward end with a longitudinal slot 122 through which extends the pin 56 on which is mounted the movable gripper jaw 54. Referring to Fig. 1, the skeletonized forward portion of the abutment member 120 is in the form of a hollow rectangle having a right side portion 124 which is provided with a longitudinal slot (not shown) similar to the slot 122 in the left side portion thereof and arranged to receive the right end portion of the pin 56. In order to provide for adjustment of the length of the abutment member 120 said abutment member is made in two sections connected together by two screws 126 extending through a slot 128 in the forward section of the abutment member and into tapped holes in the rear section thereof.

In the operation of the illustrated machine an insole and a midsole are temporarily secured to a last bottom and a lined upper having a stiffener or box toe inserted therein is assembled on the last as shown in Fig. 2 and the assembly is arranged in upright position and mounted on the toe support 24 and the heel rest 22. Preferably the box toe is one of a type which is rendered flaccid by the application of heat thereto and is in flaccid condition when the upper materials are placed on the last and mounted in the machine. The application of heat to the box toe may be effected in any known manner. One method commonly employed is to insert the toe portions of the upper materials into a toe steamer, so called, after the box toe has been inserted into the toe portion of the upper. After mounting the shoe on the work supports of the illustrated machine the bottom margins of the upper materials at opposite sides of the toe portion of the shoe are inserted into the side gripper jaws (not shown) and the bottom margins of the upper materials at the tip of the toe are inserted into the jaws 50 and 54 of the illustrated toe gripper. The hand lever 76 is then operated by swinging it in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 2 first to close the toe gripper jaws and then to impart to the grippers a movement of translation lengthwise of the shoe away from the toe end of the last thereby to tension the upper materials lengthwise of the shoe. During the tensioning operation the last is held against toeward movement by the last abutment member 120. Upon the completion of the tensioning operation a pawl 130 pivotally mounted on the hand lever 76 engages one of a plurality of ratchet teeth formed in a fixed plate 132 thereby to cause the gripper jaws 50 and 54 to maintain the tension on the upper materials after the operator releases the manual pressure on the I hand lever 76. Thereupon the power cycle of the machine is initiated by the operation of a treadle (not shown) whereupon a cam 134 on the shaft 74 moves an arm 136 to the right, as seen in Fig. 2, thereby straightening a pair of toggle links 138 and 140 to impart upward movement to the slide 26 and through the slide to thetoesupport 24 and the heel rest 22. Concomitantly withthe upward movement of the shoe the'lever '30 advances the toe wipers 28 and causes them to close on the toe "portions of the upper materials and to apply wiping pressure thereto. After the toe wipers 28 have come into engagement with the toe portion of the upper and applied thereto pressure sufiicient to maintain the tension imparted to the upper materials by the toe gripper, the cam '72 swings the lever 66 in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 2, thereby moving the toe gripper assembly bodily away from the toe end of the shoe and concomitantly the springs 112 expand and cause the toe gripper jaws to open and to release their grip on the upper materials. The upward-movement of the shoe conieinuesxafter the toe gripper assembly has been retracted until the toe wiping operation has been completed and the toe wipers 28 are in engagement with the outwardly extending bottom margins of the shoe upper materials, as shown in Fig. 4, with the outturned margins held under pressure between the toe wipers and the margin of the midsole 20 supported on the toe rest 24. Upon the completion of the upward movement of the shoe into its position shown in Fig. 4, the machine comes to rest and remains at rest while another shoe is mounted in the opposite station of the machine and the hand lever 76 is operated to actuate the toe grippers in that station.

While the margins of the upper materials are held under the pressure of the toe wipers 28 the setting or stiffening of the toe stifiener 14 is accelerated by the action of the cooling medium in the chamber 32. The cooling medium may conveniently be water maintained at a temperature below 50 F, by the refrigerating means 37 and circulated by the pump 39 through the chamber from an intake port 144 to an exhaust port 142 (Fig. 5). The heat imparted to the wipers by the upper materials is conducted through the wiper carriers 36 and the base of the chamber 32 to the cooling medium and thus the dissipation of heat from the toe stiffener is accelerated suflicient- 1y sothat when the shoe is released from the machine by the initiation of the power cycle in the opposite station the stiffener is sufliciently rigid to maintain the shape imparted to the upper materials by the operating instrumentalities of the machine. In order to cause the bottom margins of the upper materials to be adhesively attached to the margin of the midsole in the operation of the illustrated machine the mutually contacting surfaces of the midsole and the lining are coated with a suitable pressuresensitive cement preparatory to the operation of the illustrated machine and the stifiening material in the box toe causes the bottom margins of the lining and the outer portion of the upper to be adhesively attached to the bottom margin of the box toe.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for shaping shoe uppers, the combination of grippers for tensioning shoe upper materials over a last, wipers cooperating with the grippers to shape the upper materials over the last and to press the bottom margin of the upper materials against a sole, means for circulating a cooling fluid in contiguous relation to the wipers to dissipate heat from the upper materials engaged by the wipers, and refrigerating means associated with said circulating means for reducing the temperature of the circulated cooling fluid.

2. In a machine for shaping shoe uppers, the com bination of grippers for tensioning shoe upper materials over a last, wipers cooperating with the grippers and constructed and arranged to shape the upper materials over the last and to press the outwardly flanged lasting margins of the upper materials against the margin of an extension sole, means for circulating a cooling fluid in contiguous relation to the wipers to dissipate heat from the upper materials engaged by said wipers, and refrigerating means through which the 'fluid is circulated to reduce its temperature.

3. In a machine for shaping shoe uppers, a' pair of grippers jaws constructed and arranged to engage the bottom margin of a shoe upper, a skeletonized abutment member constructed and arranged to engage a last on which the upper is mounted, means for relatively positioning the gripper jaws and the abutment member, a manually operated actuator for closing the jaws and moving the jaws bodily relatively to the abutment member thereby to tension the upper over the last, a detent for holding the actuator against return movement, and automatic means for opening the gripper jaws.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 957,955 Heys May 17, 1910 8 Phelan Jan 12, Brock June 27, Lund June 21, Stewart Oct. 21, Daly May 31, Macdonald Mar. 6, Duplessis Mar. 1, Baxter June 7, Baxter Apr. 24, Urdang July 28, Thresh Aug. 31, Hoza Nov. 18, Kestell Sept. 9,

FOREIGN PATENTS Germany May 10, 

